TL;DR

Three tornadoes touched down across Florida and Utah on Friday, September 19, 2026, including two landspouts and one confirmed tornado near Fruit Heights, Utah. The day also brought 88 wind reports and 13 hail reports spanning 12 states, with the most significant wind damage concentrated in the Piedmont region.

What Happened on Friday

The National Weather Service confirmed three separate tornado touchdowns on Friday across two states separated by more than 1,800 miles. Two of the tornadoes occurred in Utah during the late afternoon and evening hours, while a third landspout touched down earlier in the day in South Florida.

The first tornado of the day was a brief landspout in Lighthouse Point, Florida, confirmed at 1730 UTC (1:30 PM EDT). According to the NWS Miami office, broadcast media captured video of the short-duration landspout lofting palm fronds and other small debris before it dissipated.

Utah saw two tornadoes within a three-hour window. At 1952 UTC (1:52 PM MDT), a tornado touched down approximately two miles east of Fruit Heights in Davis County. The NWS Salt Lake City office confirmed the tornado after reviewing video shared on social media showing rotation reaching the ground and debris being lofted into the air.

The final tornado of the day occurred at 2305 UTC (5:05 PM MDT) about 15 miles east-southeast of Naples, Utah, in Uintah County. The NWS Grand Junction office classified this as a landspout based on public reports shared via social media and television media, including KUTV.

None of the three tornadoes have received EF-scale ratings at this time. All three were brief, and no injuries or significant structural damage have been reported in connection with any of the touchdowns.

Wind Dominates the Severe Weather Picture

While tornadoes grabbed headlines, damaging winds were the dominant severe weather story on Friday. The NWS received 88 wind reports across 12 states, with widespread activity spanning from the Carolinas to the Rockies.

The Greensboro area saw multiple reports of trees down and wind damage during the late afternoon. At 1831 UTC, Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) recorded a wind gust to 69 mph approximately five miles east-southeast of Colfax. Around the same time, trees and large limbs were reported down on Interstate 85 near Route 68.

Reports of downed trees, damaged roofs, and power outages continued across the Piedmont region through the evening hours. The NWS Raleigh office documented trees blocking roadways in Robbins, Goldston, Benson, and multiple other communities.

Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado also reported wind damage or measured severe gusts. The widespread nature of the wind reports—spanning from the Carolinas to the Rockies—reflects multiple distinct weather systems at work across the country.

Hail Concentrates in Utah

Thirteen hail reports came in on Friday, with 11 of those concentrated along the Wasatch Front in Utah. The hail accompanied the same line of storms that produced the two Utah tornadoes.

The largest hail—1.5 inches in diameter—fell in two locations: approximately two miles west of Kaysville at 1945 UTC and one mile west of Farmington at 2038 UTC, both in Davis County. Quarter-sized hail (1.0 inch) was widely reported from Layton south through Taylorsville and West Jordan as storms tracked along the urban corridor.

Colorado's Moffat County saw two hail reports in the evening hours, including quarter-sized hail in Dinosaur at 2230 UTC that caused damage to car roofs and shredded leaves. New Mexico rounded out the hail reports with quarter-sized stones near Farmington.

The Meteorological Setup

Friday's severe weather unfolded under the influence of multiple weather systems. In the central United States, a mid-level trough over the Great Basin and central Rockies gradually shifted eastward, with a cold front draped from the central High Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley.

According to the Storm Prediction Center's Day 1 outlook, the front was expected to push slowly southward through the day. Ahead of the boundary, a seasonably moist airmass over Kansas, Missouri, and northwestern Oklahoma was forecast to become moderately unstable by mid-afternoon, supporting scattered thunderstorm development.

The SPC highlighted steep mid-level lapse rates—a measure of how quickly temperature drops with height—as a key ingredient for strong downdrafts and severe wind gusts. The outlook noted that "a few short-lived supercells are possible given the adequate speed and directional shear" across the Kansas vicinity, with large hail possible from stronger updrafts.

In Utah, storms developed in an environment with adequate moisture and instability along the Wasatch Front, supporting both the hail and the two landspout tornadoes. Landspouts typically form along convergence boundaries in environments with weak-to-moderate wind shear, and they often occur with little warning.

The Florida landspout likely formed in association with a sea-breeze boundary or other localized convergence feature common to the South Florida peninsula during the warm season.

Tornadoes in September: Not Unusual

While September is well past the peak of tornado season in the Plains, tornadoes remain possible across much of the United States during the month. According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, the United States averages around 3 tornadoes in September, with activity typically concentrated in the Gulf Coast states, the Southeast, and areas where tropical systems make landfall.

Utah sees tornadoes infrequently compared to the Plains, but they are not unheard of, particularly during the summer monsoon season when afternoon thunderstorms are common. Most Utah tornadoes are weak and brief, often landspouts that form along outflow boundaries or terrain-induced convergence zones.

Florida, by contrast, sees tornadoes year-round, with a secondary peak during the late summer and fall associated with tropical weather patterns and sea-breeze interactions. The state ranks among the top in the nation for tornado frequency, though most are weak and short-lived.

Looking Ahead

As of Saturday morning, the Storm Prediction Center has outlined a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms across parts of the central Plains, with scattered severe wind gusts and large hail possible during the afternoon and evening. No tornado watches are currently active.

Friday's three tornadoes bring the recent stretch of daily tornado activity to at least five consecutive days, underscoring that severe weather season does not follow a strict calendar. Even as fall approaches, the ingredients for tornadoes—instability, moisture, lift, and wind shear—can align anywhere conditions support them.

For residents in areas under a Slight or higher risk today, the standard severe weather safety rules apply: have multiple ways to receive warnings, know where you'll shelter, and do not wait until you see a tornado to take action.

VORTEX is a free web app at vortexintel.app that monitors severe weather nationwide. Pro ($4.99/month) places phone calls to your phone when a tornado or flash flood warning is issued for a location you care about — calls can ring through Do Not Disturb once you enable Emergency Bypass for the number, unlike most third-party app notifications.